I've got ALL of 'em trained to fork it over when I come around and bail them out. Barter is my favorite, but cash will do just fine, thank you.
I wish I could be as assertive as you, but when it comes to spyware removal, I consider this a public service. I try to make sure that each of my friends are aware of AdAware. Seems to be the right thing to do.
Interestingly, they are only charging me $1.10 a month for it.
We've had number portability in the UK for a while now, and you don't get charged for it at all. Probably due to the regulator, Oftel, who seem resonably consumer-focused. I made use of it in Feburary myself, worked well but with a two day delay. Charging each subscriber each month for it is obscene!!
If this is down to the carrier, then you should switch to one that doesn't charge (if there are any). They might take a hint. The only problem is that this is likely to be a "hidden" cost when you are signing up for a contract, so new customers might not be aware of it, and won't factor it into costs.
The training manuals used at SOA gave specific instructions in how to hold prisoners in clandestine jails and to use threats of force on them, how to "neutralize" political opponents, how to infiltrate and spy upon civilian organizations and opposition political parties, and other human-rights abuses. This was sort of admitted by the US Army in September 20, 1996, when the manuals were declassified and publicly released, and confirmed by the Pentagon's Inspector General in a report on February 21, 1997. Earlier, things had gotten so bad in El Salvador that the United Nations established a "Truth Commission" to investigate. Among the details, it reported on March 15, 1993 that 74% of the military officers it found to have participated in rape, assassinations, murder, torture, and massacres during El Salvador's "dirty war" were SOA graduates.
I've actually seen these declassified training manuals, you can find them on the web. Lessons in kiddnapping, guerilla warfare, terrorism and extortion. Hardly a sylibus to be proud of!!
I thought Britian was our ally? How does your fantasy have the USA funding the IRA? You do know what that stands for, right?
Most of the IRAs funding comes from donations from the US. Covered here. I live in the UK, have done all my life. I am more than familiar with the troubles.
Please spare me your here-say "evidence" about drug trafficing etc... Again no facts other than some liberal bullshit stories to discredit Bush, because this is all it is about, right?
Hey, I'm not an expert in this. But it is a commonly held belief that the CIA has had links to drug smuggling in the past. And I never mentioned Bush. The question is, was it official CIA policy, or just agents doing it on the side. And is it still on-going?
Tell me from your in depth understanding of American politics how many female, non-caucasions there are in elected government today? Again, you are living in fantasy land.
Woopie do. Gimmie a shout when one gets the top job, or even VP. It's not a problem with your system of politics, more with the media. We're not any better here in the UK. Our countries are both led by very strong believers in Christianity, and we have a history of this. Given the number of times we both hear our leaders say "god" in a speach, I'd say that it was a pretty important factor in our governments actions.
Wow, i never knew all that food and economic assistance we give are loans.
I've had this argument before on/. I was presented with official government figures on a US gov. website as someone pointing out how much aid was given by the US. Most of it was loans. I never bookmarked it, and student grants seem to be getting in the way when googling, so I couldn't find a link. IIRC, the majority of the aid was in the form of loans. Countries have been lending each other money for hundreds of years, it's nothing new.
There is always the neat site, NationMaster. Here are the top 100 international aid per capita and total.
We all donate international aid. Don't put yourself up on some prize-winning podium though. You can't excuse recent indiscressions by pointing out something that we all do anyway.
That's my issue with Americans. Other than that, you are great guys. You get brought up in a very patriotic environment that is now harming your country, due to the inability to view things objectively. In your minds (obviously generalising here), you will always be the hero coming to s
You're beginning to believe the illusions we're spinning here, you're beginning to believe that the tube is reality and your own lives are unreal! You do! Why, whatever the tube tells you: you dress like the tube, you eat like the tube, you raise your children like the tube, you even think like the tube! This is mass madness, you maniacs! In God's name, you people are the real thing, WE are the illusion!
How does the USA fund terrorism? I hear this all the time yet fail to see any evidence?
So, you've never heard of The School of the Americas, which has trained practically every South American terrorist group ever? Quote:
Since 1946, the training center, often called the school of the assassins, has produced ten dictators and hundreds of others connected with human rights violations, drug trafficking and organized crime.
OK, you maybe missed that one, but you must be aware of the Taliban being created by the US? The US being primary funding of Northern Ireland terrorism? Documented evidence about the CIA's terrorist/drugs links?
Stick your head in the sand if you want...
And how did the USA destroy the governments in the Middle East?
The last time I checked there was a well known terrorist group in Northern Iraq that the USA uprooted. Ansar Al Islam, or some such nonsense.
Yes, and said terrorist group was an enemy of Saddams, and he had tried to destroy them many times. What's your point? Every country has some sort of terrorist precence, government supported or not. Does that justify invasion?
The USA does not tell you what religion to follow; you are free to follow any religion you like, including no religion at all. It is your choice.
Any religion, provided it's Christianity. Have you ever listened to a Bush speach? Oh, and by the way, gimmie a shout when you get a president that isn't a white male Christian. Ain't ever gonna happen.
Yeah, I would believe anything a Pakistani Diplomat says, especially since they are the ones who put the Taliban in power! Perhaps you should learn to not believe everything you read.
It's well documented all over, but I can understand your sceptism.
who have a jealousy of America so embedded into their little minds they fail to grasp the realities of the large world.
People do not fly planes into buildings because of jealosy. Nor is it because of "hating freedom", as Bush puts it. If that were the case, the US wouldn't be the only target. Where are Europes Al Qaida's terrorist attacks? Where are Canadas? Where are Oz/NZ? And a dozen other countries that have a similar way of life to the US?
Go and read some history.
If there was no United States, the world would be a much worse place, care to argue that based on your in depth understanding of world history?
Sure, but the same can be said for any superpower. Chaos theory means we'll never know.
But when you are the most powerful nation the world has ever seen, you have a responsibilty to make the world into a better place. No country gives more foreign aid than America.
No, no responsibity is there and none is taken. US "aid" isn't aid, it's loans. Big difference. These loans feck up the economy for years, and usually get squandered by corrupt officials in the first place.
No country so readily commits the lives of their own Armed Forces to aid those oppressed peoples of the world.
Provided there is profit to be had, then yes. If there is no profit, you can remain oppressed, and the US will happilly sell your dictator weapons.
No country takes in as many immigrants as America does.
That is so far from true it's unbelievable. Sure, the US is (admirally) built on imigration, but you have some of the strictest controls anywhere in the world now. European countries take in far more imigrants/refugees. It's a major political issue over here at the moment.
Don't insult America by taking a moral high ground that you so clearly do not have.
I never took a high-ground. I just pointed out that the US high-ground is a nationalistic delusion. Read some history please. The US doesn't always save the day, that's just Hollywood.
Because we all know when they teach Watergate and Iran-Contra in school that they're shining examples of ethics at work....
Woopie do. A few mentions of indiscression makes up for decades of funding terrorism and war?
Do they teach you about "The School of Americas"? The funding of the Talliban? The creation and arming of Saddam? The toppling of the democratically electeded Saudi government? US sponsored invasions of Cuba? "The Bay of Pigs"? The truth behind the Cuban missile crisis?
Most of you aren't even aware of half of it. Somehow, the American psyche just can't accept that there are bad forces at work behind the scenes. An America 50 years ago would never have stood for it. What happened?
Oh yeah...the big bad USA just wants the oil and does not care about the people...right? how many palaces did Saddam have? How many Ferrari's does the Saudi Royal Family have? How is it our fault these countries leaders squander all the wealth they have?
So? Does that justify assassinations and funding of terrorism? The only states that the US doesn't like are those that aren't open to business. If you are willing to talk dollars, how many palaces you have, how many citizens you murder somehow becomes irrelevant. Only when said government turns against you, do they suddenly become "the enemy".
We need oil as does the rest of the world. If there was no oil there, we would have nothing to do with them, same with the rest of the world. The USA tried after both WW1 and WW2 to help these people live in peace for once in their lifetime but the fanatical religious leaders chose not to live in peace and set about creating fundamentalist states there.
You created the fundamentalist states! They used to have fairly decent governments, which were destroyed through US funded terrorism.
They said and continue to say much the same things Hitler said to justify war. Hitler said the Jews are to blame for all the problems in the world, they say the Jews and America are. It is interesting how people the world over love to point fingers at everything besides themselves.
Exactly, propaganda hasn't changed much. You are aware that your own government is using terrorism in the exact same way? Ever notice how Bush uses the word "terror" as often as possible in speaches? Why? Iraq never had terrorist links, so what is he implying by using that word I wonder...
Perhaps rather than preaching a religion which demands death to the non-believers, they should take a more moderate tone and respect others beliefs?
Well, Islam doesn't teach that. In the same way that Christianity doesn't teach what we are doing as well. Both sides have their nutters.
If 9-11 never happened, the USA would not be in Afganistan.
Not true. Was in planning before Sept I'm afraid. 9-11 provided a "remember the maine" incident. Google for it to learn more.
The same applies to Iraq. The Project for a New America Century, the think tank that Bush et all are all fully paid up members of, have been planning it for years. 9-11 just gave them the political currency to do it, via deliberate lies and misdirection.
If Iraq had not invaded Kuwait, the USA would not be in Iraq today.
LOL. The Iraqi's asked the US for permission to invade Kuwait and were told "we have no opinion on that matter" by your government. It is only after the Kuwaiti elite started a massive PR campaign, including lies about what the Iraqi soldiers supposedly did to babies. That was the point at which a vote in congress moved the US into the war. At that point, we began to learn what a "bad guy" Saddam was. In the preceeding years, he could do no wrong. Even D. Rumsfed has met him personally, and sold weapons that were used to kill the Kurds.
So what is your point?
That most US citizens live in an idealistic dream world where you believe your country can do no wrong, because of your historic "good guy" stance. Nowadays, that just isn't the case. They just don't teach you the "bad" stuff in school.
You need to wake up before people like Bush destroy everything that America is supposed to stand for. We admire that stance, we always have. But now, we are genuinely scared of you.
I couldn't help being *floored* that this family that was poor enough to get food at the food bank had enough money to have CABLE TV. *I* don't afford cable TV -- and I'm supposed to donate food to the food bank so that someone else can afford cable TV? WTF? Since when was cable TV a necessary part of life?
In the UK, a television is one of the items that aren't allowed to be taken by the repo-man. The only others are things like fridges, cookers etc.
Apparently, the TV is now an essential part of life that can never be taken from you.
Don't knock the poor so much tho. They don't have any cash to spend on leasure, so TV for many is their only means of entertainment.
Only in recent years have cable companies slightly innovated with digital cable. But digital cable sucks. Changing channels is laggy, and it's really not *that* much different from normal cable (at least compared to a tivo).
Speak for yourself. Digital cable/satelite is a must-have in the UK. Digital anamorphic high-quality pictures, RGB component connectors, digital audio, interactive channels, and a bandwith several hundred times that of old analogue systems.
Infinitely better than the old systems. We even have an over-the-air digital system.
But hey, it's not all bad for you. Because you are a bit behind, your systems will probably be ultimately better, e.g. HDTV, digital surround audio etc.
Seriously, product placement will probably be the next big wave - since one goal of an ad is to get you to remember the product.
You don't even need to "remember" it. When you are in the shops choosing which to buy, the chances are you'll go for the familiar one, even if you are unaware of where that familiarity comes from.
There would actually be a long-term use for a navigation system which is completely low-resolution. In theory nobody would bother to shoot it down, and it might be the only system that survives a big war.
I have to disagree with that. Sure, the big nations want good accuracy because they use it for guidance of missiles.
But in traditional war with troops, being able to pinpoint your location to the nearest mile would be a great help alone. Many battles have been lost by troops going to the wrong places. In the middle of a bland environment, e.g. dessert, there isn't much use for a map and compass if you don't have landmarks/hills to navigate by. Ditto night travel.
Or maybe James Bond will crash through a Perrier truck in each movie? Hmm, that sounds familiar.
An interesting snippet about product placement was in the directors commentry for Ghostbusters. In the scene where Peter first goes to Dina's appartment, he opens the fridge and there is a can of Coke prominently there.
As Columbia Pictures were owned by Coke, they were forced to do this (like in many other Columbia movies at the time, e.g. Pink Floyd's The Wall). The cast weren't happy about this, hense the "look at all the junk food, do you actually eat this crap?" joke.
the U.S. is actually quite liberal when it comes to letting foreigners work in the country.
Well, at the moment it depends what country you are from (think middle east), but when has that been different from any other country in the entire history of the world?;-) Some folk just don't get along with each other!
Do you really think there are no Americans that can do the job of these B2 people from India and Pakistan? Of course there are but the foreigners are in the U.S. taking our jobs anyway.
Well, not that the wages they are offering, but those scams have been mentioned on Slashdot before!!
By the way, foreigners "taking our jobs away" is a stupid argument. Human culture is built on a migrant work force. That's how a lot of cultural things such as a the wheel spread around the world. Imigration is healthy for a country. It's the ones that come to claim welfare that you don't want.
Besides, if you yanks are so up on capitalism, then you should embrace it fully, not just the good bits. If there is someone out there willing to do the same job for less pay, then that's what that job will pay. That's how the job market works. Hense the post-dot-com era problems for IT, the dot-com boom persuaded a lot of folk to take up IT. Large workforce means less jobs, more competition. Get over it!
I'm wasting my time here responding to an AC, but you are wrong. Ithappened. Download the documentary if you don't believe me.
The 2000 election, as far as Florida was concerned, was a sham. In addition to the people who weren't allowed to vote, you had a supreme court picked by Bush's brother making a decision to stop a recount that could have changed everything. There has never been a full hand recount, any sources that claim they have a figure are extrapolating from limited samples of the votes that did get counted.
Jesus, I know more about your political system than you.
We have a little bit more land mass (than you most likely do, as I'm assuming you live in Europe). Besides, most Americans don't particularly want to stoop to lowering their standard of living by going somewhere else.
Troll? Nah, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. The world ain't some backwards place. In fact, Europe's population is far more technologically advanced than most Americans, we are around 1-2 years ahead of you in consumer tech. We have the same shit you do otherwise, except we have a few thousand more years worth of history, if that's your idea of a vacation. I fail to see the drop in the standard of living. No trailer trash here, remember, an extremely large percentage of the US population hovers around the poverty line. Please explain to me what exactly do you mean with "lowering their standard of living"?
Perhaps the exchange rate doesn't work for you, but what value is the exposure to other cultures to you? If you honestly think the world has nothing to offer you, then I have nothing but pity for you.
To add to this horrible lack of US Citizen "worldliness" that Europeans have, most of us only speak one language.....imagine that....we go on a day trip and the people still speak the same language as we do at home
Woopie do, most of the folk I know here can only speak one language. English is probably the most common "second-language" in the world, and provided you aren't a dick about it, locals don't mind using English. Just be nice, and ask if they speak it, don't assume.
I genuinely believe that Americans are conditioned to not have the desire to travel abroad. Just a cultural thing, no tinfoil hat conspiricies or anything.
For all the crap that gets slung at the U.S., we are still one of the most open when it comes to accept foreigners into our country and letting them live and work here.
I'm not an expert here, but I don't think that's the case. As far as I'm aware, to get a job in America on a temp visa, a company must have no valid native applicants. There are many other countries that are far more open. To be honest, I don't have a clue about things here in the UK, not relevant to me...;-)
The vast majority of Americans whose jobs have run off to India and China couldn't follow their jobs if they wanted to. Other contries are funny about immigration, see?
That's one of the funnyiest things I've heard in a while. Is that what most Americans believe? No wonder less than 1 in 10 have a passport!!
Listen, getting a work visa to just about any country in the word is childs play, provided you can do something useful. If it's IT you are good at, the world is your oyster.
The parent has hit the nail on the head. Basically, Bush won by under a thousand votes. Nine thousand blacks were wronly denied their votes because of ChoicePoint list. These people generally voted 9 to 10 for the Democrats. Those of you who have been paying attention might note that now, since the election, ChoicePoint are involved in the Terrorist Information Awareness (formerly Total Information Awareness) project. Mmmm, kickbacks...
Can anyone here see EVD discs being the new piracy media of choice? It's the same media as DVDs, so a DVD-ROM could read it. And, since there seems to be less encryption, some OSS developer will have an EVD codec out quickly.
Sounds fair enough, as does the other response.
However, CSS has already been hacked. The only advantage this new format would have (wrt piracy) is that copying is ever so slightly easier for (only) the first generation copy. That's not really a big deal.
I didn't have to try very hard at all, I just had to remember that the US has about 5 times the population of the UK and click the "per capita" link.
Bugger. I pasted in the wrong link. This is the correct one. Using "per capita" goes without saying.:-)
No nation bashing, but you brought up how dangerous the US is. Certainly you don't mind if I point out how dangerous your country is?
Sure. But it's not relevant to my initial point to an western poster (most likely American) who assumed that Nigeria is an unsafe place, a thought likely based somewhat in racism and ignorance.
see that the UK leads the world in assaults and total crimes per capita
What's your point, caller? Did I say it were any safer here? Or, have we decended into the predictable nation bashing.;-) Believe me, I live in Glasgow, I know how dodgy some places can be!! Like any country on the planet, you are fine if you know what areas to avoid.
Oh, and yes, I am aware that you had to try several pages before you could find one to bash me on.:-) The most obvious assault statistic on that site places the US as more dangerous. Funny that though, the UK is ahead in "assault victims", while the US leads "assaults". You gotta just love statistics.
Slashdot Mirror
I wish I could be as assertive as you, but when it comes to spyware removal, I consider this a public service. I try to make sure that each of my friends are aware of AdAware. Seems to be the right thing to do.
We've had number portability in the UK for a while now, and you don't get charged for it at all. Probably due to the regulator, Oftel, who seem resonably consumer-focused. I made use of it in Feburary myself, worked well but with a two day delay. Charging each subscriber each month for it is obscene!!
If this is down to the carrier, then you should switch to one that doesn't charge (if there are any). They might take a hint. The only problem is that this is likely to be a "hidden" cost when you are signing up for a contract, so new customers might not be aware of it, and won't factor it into costs.
Hmm. From this site (found via google).
I've actually seen these declassified training manuals, you can find them on the web. Lessons in kiddnapping, guerilla warfare, terrorism and extortion. Hardly a sylibus to be proud of!!
I thought Britian was our ally? How does your fantasy have the USA funding the IRA? You do know what that stands for, right?
Most of the IRAs funding comes from donations from the US. Covered here. I live in the UK, have done all my life. I am more than familiar with the troubles.
Please spare me your here-say "evidence" about drug trafficing etc... Again no facts other than some liberal bullshit stories to discredit Bush, because this is all it is about, right?
Hey, I'm not an expert in this. But it is a commonly held belief that the CIA has had links to drug smuggling in the past. And I never mentioned Bush. The question is, was it official CIA policy, or just agents doing it on the side. And is it still on-going?
Tell me from your in depth understanding of American politics how many female, non-caucasions there are in elected government today? Again, you are living in fantasy land.
Woopie do. Gimmie a shout when one gets the top job, or even VP. It's not a problem with your system of politics, more with the media. We're not any better here in the UK. Our countries are both led by very strong believers in Christianity, and we have a history of this. Given the number of times we both hear our leaders say "god" in a speach, I'd say that it was a pretty important factor in our governments actions.
Wow, i never knew all that food and economic assistance we give are loans.
I've had this argument before on /. I was presented with official government figures on a US gov. website as someone pointing out how much aid was given by the US. Most of it was loans. I never bookmarked it, and student grants seem to be getting in the way when googling, so I couldn't find a link. IIRC, the majority of the aid was in the form of loans. Countries have been lending each other money for hundreds of years, it's nothing new.
There is always the neat site, NationMaster. Here are the top 100 international aid per capita and total.
We all donate international aid. Don't put yourself up on some prize-winning podium though. You can't excuse recent indiscressions by pointing out something that we all do anyway.
That's my issue with Americans. Other than that, you are great guys. You get brought up in a very patriotic environment that is now harming your country, due to the inability to view things objectively. In your minds (obviously generalising here), you will always be the hero coming to s
A quote:
So, you've never heard of The School of the Americas, which has trained practically every South American terrorist group ever? Quote:
OK, you maybe missed that one, but you must be aware of the Taliban being created by the US? The US being primary funding of Northern Ireland terrorism? Documented evidence about the CIA's terrorist/drugs links?
Stick your head in the sand if you want...
And how did the USA destroy the governments in the Middle East?
Go and read some history
The last time I checked there was a well known terrorist group in Northern Iraq that the USA uprooted. Ansar Al Islam, or some such nonsense.
Yes, and said terrorist group was an enemy of Saddams, and he had tried to destroy them many times. What's your point? Every country has some sort of terrorist precence, government supported or not. Does that justify invasion?
The USA does not tell you what religion to follow; you are free to follow any religion you like, including no religion at all. It is your choice.
Any religion, provided it's Christianity. Have you ever listened to a Bush speach? Oh, and by the way, gimmie a shout when you get a president that isn't a white male Christian. Ain't ever gonna happen.
Yeah, I would believe anything a Pakistani Diplomat says, especially since they are the ones who put the Taliban in power! Perhaps you should learn to not believe everything you read.
It's well documented all over, but I can understand your sceptism.
who have a jealousy of America so embedded into their little minds they fail to grasp the realities of the large world.
People do not fly planes into buildings because of jealosy. Nor is it because of "hating freedom", as Bush puts it. If that were the case, the US wouldn't be the only target. Where are Europes Al Qaida's terrorist attacks? Where are Canadas? Where are Oz/NZ? And a dozen other countries that have a similar way of life to the US?
Go and read some history.
If there was no United States, the world would be a much worse place, care to argue that based on your in depth understanding of world history?
Sure, but the same can be said for any superpower. Chaos theory means we'll never know.
But when you are the most powerful nation the world has ever seen, you have a responsibilty to make the world into a better place. No country gives more foreign aid than America.
No, no responsibity is there and none is taken. US "aid" isn't aid, it's loans. Big difference. These loans feck up the economy for years, and usually get squandered by corrupt officials in the first place.
No country so readily commits the lives of their own Armed Forces to aid those oppressed peoples of the world.
Provided there is profit to be had, then yes. If there is no profit, you can remain oppressed, and the US will happilly sell your dictator weapons.
No country takes in as many immigrants as America does.
That is so far from true it's unbelievable. Sure, the US is (admirally) built on imigration, but you have some of the strictest controls anywhere in the world now. European countries take in far more imigrants/refugees. It's a major political issue over here at the moment.
Don't insult America by taking a moral high ground that you so clearly do not have.
I never took a high-ground. I just pointed out that the US high-ground is a nationalistic delusion. Read some history please. The US doesn't always save the day, that's just Hollywood.
Woopie do. A few mentions of indiscression makes up for decades of funding terrorism and war?
Do they teach you about "The School of Americas"? The funding of the Talliban? The creation and arming of Saddam? The toppling of the democratically electeded Saudi government? US sponsored invasions of Cuba? "The Bay of Pigs"? The truth behind the Cuban missile crisis?
Most of you aren't even aware of half of it. Somehow, the American psyche just can't accept that there are bad forces at work behind the scenes. An America 50 years ago would never have stood for it. What happened?
So? Does that justify assassinations and funding of terrorism? The only states that the US doesn't like are those that aren't open to business. If you are willing to talk dollars, how many palaces you have, how many citizens you murder somehow becomes irrelevant. Only when said government turns against you, do they suddenly become "the enemy".
We need oil as does the rest of the world. If there was no oil there, we would have nothing to do with them, same with the rest of the world. The USA tried after both WW1 and WW2 to help these people live in peace for once in their lifetime but the fanatical religious leaders chose not to live in peace and set about creating fundamentalist states there.
You created the fundamentalist states! They used to have fairly decent governments, which were destroyed through US funded terrorism.
They said and continue to say much the same things Hitler said to justify war. Hitler said the Jews are to blame for all the problems in the world, they say the Jews and America are. It is interesting how people the world over love to point fingers at everything besides themselves.
Exactly, propaganda hasn't changed much. You are aware that your own government is using terrorism in the exact same way? Ever notice how Bush uses the word "terror" as often as possible in speaches? Why? Iraq never had terrorist links, so what is he implying by using that word I wonder...
Perhaps rather than preaching a religion which demands death to the non-believers, they should take a more moderate tone and respect others beliefs?
Well, Islam doesn't teach that. In the same way that Christianity doesn't teach what we are doing as well. Both sides have their nutters.
If 9-11 never happened, the USA would not be in Afganistan.
Not true. Was in planning before Sept I'm afraid. 9-11 provided a "remember the maine" incident. Google for it to learn more.
The same applies to Iraq. The Project for a New America Century, the think tank that Bush et all are all fully paid up members of, have been planning it for years. 9-11 just gave them the political currency to do it, via deliberate lies and misdirection.
If Iraq had not invaded Kuwait, the USA would not be in Iraq today.
LOL. The Iraqi's asked the US for permission to invade Kuwait and were told "we have no opinion on that matter" by your government. It is only after the Kuwaiti elite started a massive PR campaign, including lies about what the Iraqi soldiers supposedly did to babies. That was the point at which a vote in congress moved the US into the war. At that point, we began to learn what a "bad guy" Saddam was. In the preceeding years, he could do no wrong. Even D. Rumsfed has met him personally, and sold weapons that were used to kill the Kurds.
So what is your point?
That most US citizens live in an idealistic dream world where you believe your country can do no wrong, because of your historic "good guy" stance. Nowadays, that just isn't the case. They just don't teach you the "bad" stuff in school.
You need to wake up before people like Bush destroy everything that America is supposed to stand for. We admire that stance, we always have. But now, we are genuinely scared of you.
In the UK, a television is one of the items that aren't allowed to be taken by the repo-man. The only others are things like fridges, cookers etc.
Apparently, the TV is now an essential part of life that can never be taken from you.
Don't knock the poor so much tho. They don't have any cash to spend on leasure, so TV for many is their only means of entertainment.
Speak for yourself. Digital cable/satelite is a must-have in the UK. Digital anamorphic high-quality pictures, RGB component connectors, digital audio, interactive channels, and a bandwith several hundred times that of old analogue systems.
Infinitely better than the old systems. We even have an over-the-air digital system.
But hey, it's not all bad for you. Because you are a bit behind, your systems will probably be ultimately better, e.g. HDTV, digital surround audio etc.
You don't even need to "remember" it. When you are in the shops choosing which to buy, the chances are you'll go for the familiar one, even if you are unaware of where that familiarity comes from.
You created the terrorists in the first place. Why should we have to deal with the concequences of your imperialism?
The rest of the (sane) world doesn't hate you. We just don't trust your government, and with good reason.
You don't read much history, do you? Here's a hint, they don't make movies nor teach you about the unethical stuff in school.
I have to disagree with that. Sure, the big nations want good accuracy because they use it for guidance of missiles.
But in traditional war with troops, being able to pinpoint your location to the nearest mile would be a great help alone. Many battles have been lost by troops going to the wrong places. In the middle of a bland environment, e.g. dessert, there isn't much use for a map and compass if you don't have landmarks/hills to navigate by. Ditto night travel.
An interesting snippet about product placement was in the directors commentry for Ghostbusters. In the scene where Peter first goes to Dina's appartment, he opens the fridge and there is a can of Coke prominently there.
As Columbia Pictures were owned by Coke, they were forced to do this (like in many other Columbia movies at the time, e.g. Pink Floyd's The Wall). The cast weren't happy about this, hense the "look at all the junk food, do you actually eat this crap?" joke.
Well, at the moment it depends what country you are from (think middle east), but when has that been different from any other country in the entire history of the world? ;-) Some folk just don't get along with each other!
Well, not that the wages they are offering, but those scams have been mentioned on Slashdot before!!
By the way, foreigners "taking our jobs away" is a stupid argument. Human culture is built on a migrant work force. That's how a lot of cultural things such as a the wheel spread around the world. Imigration is healthy for a country. It's the ones that come to claim welfare that you don't want.
Besides, if you yanks are so up on capitalism, then you should embrace it fully, not just the good bits. If there is someone out there willing to do the same job for less pay, then that's what that job will pay. That's how the job market works. Hense the post-dot-com era problems for IT, the dot-com boom persuaded a lot of folk to take up IT. Large workforce means less jobs, more competition. Get over it!
The 2000 election, as far as Florida was concerned, was a sham. In addition to the people who weren't allowed to vote, you had a supreme court picked by Bush's brother making a decision to stop a recount that could have changed everything. There has never been a full hand recount, any sources that claim they have a figure are extrapolating from limited samples of the votes that did get counted.
Jesus, I know more about your political system than you.
Troll? Nah, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. The world ain't some backwards place. In fact, Europe's population is far more technologically advanced than most Americans, we are around 1-2 years ahead of you in consumer tech. We have the same shit you do otherwise, except we have a few thousand more years worth of history, if that's your idea of a vacation. I fail to see the drop in the standard of living. No trailer trash here, remember, an extremely large percentage of the US population hovers around the poverty line. Please explain to me what exactly do you mean with "lowering their standard of living"?
Perhaps the exchange rate doesn't work for you, but what value is the exposure to other cultures to you? If you honestly think the world has nothing to offer you, then I have nothing but pity for you.
To add to this horrible lack of US Citizen "worldliness" that Europeans have, most of us only speak one language.....imagine that....we go on a day trip and the people still speak the same language as we do at home
Woopie do, most of the folk I know here can only speak one language. English is probably the most common "second-language" in the world, and provided you aren't a dick about it, locals don't mind using English. Just be nice, and ask if they speak it, don't assume.
I genuinely believe that Americans are conditioned to not have the desire to travel abroad. Just a cultural thing, no tinfoil hat conspiricies or anything.
I'm not an expert here, but I don't think that's the case. As far as I'm aware, to get a job in America on a temp visa, a company must have no valid native applicants. There are many other countries that are far more open. To be honest, I don't have a clue about things here in the UK, not relevant to me... ;-)
That's one of the funnyiest things I've heard in a while. Is that what most Americans believe? No wonder less than 1 in 10 have a passport!!
Listen, getting a work visa to just about any country in the word is childs play, provided you can do something useful. If it's IT you are good at, the world is your oyster.
This:
ed2k://|file|censored.by.u.s..media.-.bbc.bush.e lection.expose.-.how.the.republicans.subverted.dem ocracy.avi|16752640|2507F0EDC02462FBB878BAF1AFF251 41|/
(ed2k link)
banned in the USA documentary done by the BBC outlines the fraud. Of course, it's banned only in the "land of the free".
Sounds fair enough, as does the other response.
However, CSS has already been hacked. The only advantage this new format would have (wrt piracy) is that copying is ever so slightly easier for (only) the first generation copy. That's not really a big deal.
Bugger. I pasted in the wrong link. This is the correct one. Using "per capita" goes without saying. :-)
No nation bashing, but you brought up how dangerous the US is. Certainly you don't mind if I point out how dangerous your country is?
Sure. But it's not relevant to my initial point to an western poster (most likely American) who assumed that Nigeria is an unsafe place, a thought likely based somewhat in racism and ignorance.
What's your point, caller? Did I say it were any safer here? Or, have we decended into the predictable nation bashing. ;-) Believe me, I live in Glasgow, I know how dodgy some places can be!! Like any country on the planet, you are fine if you know what areas to avoid.
Oh, and yes, I am aware that you had to try several pages before you could find one to bash me on. :-) The most obvious assault statistic on that site places the US as more dangerous. Funny that though, the UK is ahead in "assault victims", while the US leads "assaults". You gotta just love statistics.